Archive for the 'The Smiths' Tag Under 'Soundcheck' Category

It’s easy – if also unsympathetic and probably inaccurate – to view the iconic Englishman called Morrissey as the instigator of his own unhappiness. That it isn’t any government or vicious meat eaters or his former mates in the Smiths or this cruel world in general that has made him so poetically miserable, but rather his own perpetually aggrieved disposition that sometimes leads to misfortune.

Not that there was anything calamitous about his appearance Saturday night at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, another resolutely strong performance loaded with rarities and new gems, and bolstered just this once by a warmly received set from Tom Jones, wisely tailored to appeal to the purists in Moz’s camp.

Yet why does it so often seem that when the most caustic wit of his generation decides to tour, his outings rarely go smoothly?

Last year he was beset by maladies: He managed to reschedule his memorable Staples Center show with Patti Smith after battling a bleeding ulcer, but then pneumonia struck both his lungs and the rest of the journey was scrubbed. This time, though he’s in finer fettle, skirmishes have arisen since his latest trek began last week; as he has elegantly sung at every stop so far, trouble loves him.

No, we didn't see Morrissey at the Observatory Thursday night, despite it being the smallest venue he's ever played in Orange County, trumping his appearance a decade ago (almost to the date) at the Grove of Anaheim. That's significant – though arguably not as much as his teaming with Tom Jones Saturday night at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, which we will be reviewing.

We skipped his Santa Ana stop because there was somewhere equally important to be: the Greek Theatre, where David Byrne, Bloc Party's Kele Okereke, Hot Chip's Alexis Taylor and more saluted enigmatic Nigerian artist William Onyeabor. (More about that in a proper post later this afternoon.) But we didn't want Moz's O.C. return to go unnoticed, especially considering how much speculation circulated that he might not play at all.

Initially that stemmed from the body-slamming he endured Wednesday night at his tour opener in San Jose, where several fans upheld the stupid tradition of mobbing him during his encore – until a few grew overzealous and tackled the rather hulking singer, who then promptly ended the performance. Seeing as Morrissey can sometimes (often?) be a delicate yet demanding flower, it wasn't unimaginable to think he might scrub this small-venue date at the 11th hour.

Worsening rumors that he was considering canceling was a reckless Consequence of Sound report based on a blink-and-you-missed-it Facebook post from PAWS, who opened for We Are Scientists in the Constellation Room that same night. Late in the afternoon, the Scottish group ranted that Morrissey was insisting the CR gig be called off, so CoS declared he was refusing to play. Whether or not that's true ultimately doesn't matter – everyone performed as planned.

Avoiding the sort of ghoulish spectacle most expect for Halloween night, master guitarist Johnny Marr, one of the most influential musicians to emerge in the ’80s, commandeered House of Blues Anaheim on Thursday, kicking off his latest and most extensive stateside outing as a solo artist.

Gigging in support of his critically acclaimed effort The Messenger, which he spotlighted at Coachella earlier this year (above), the Englishman from Manchester made his Downtown Disney debut a doubly auspicious one: in addition to the launch of this outing (which replays Nov. 3 at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood), this rare O.C. appearance marked his 50th birthday.

Long ranked among the most distinctively melodic riff-makers of his generation, Marr has only deepened his impressive body of work since saying goodbye to the Smiths, although until now that extension of his reputation had come strictly through collaboration with a variety of bands: Modest Mouse, Pretenders, The The, his Electronic project with New Order’s Bernard Sumner and, most recently, fellow Brits the Cribs.

Performing for a politely passionate room of Smiths fans, Marr graciously understood the draw of his appearance and did his best to oblige. Though only half the crowd seemed to know material from The Messenger, its songs managed to win over people patiently waiting to hear the detailed jangle that the younger Marr crafted in tandem with Morrissey.

When Johnny Marr takes the stage at the House of Blues in Anaheim on Thursday, sure, it’s Halloween night, but that’s just the second-best reason to go party with Johnny: It’s also the guitarist and singer’s 50th birthday this Oct. 31.

“It’s going to be quite a celebration, I think,” Marr says by phone from his tour bus after playing a recent gig in Aberdeen, Scotland. “I’ve been of two minds about whether to make any kind of announcement. I feel like I shouldn’t let it pass without inviting everyone to my birthday party, or at least acknowledge it.

“I think some people might be surprised that I’m working on my birthday, but I can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing.”

Given how long Marr’s been making music – co-founding the Smiths with Morrissey as a teenager, later joining bands including Electronic, Modest Mouse and the Cribs – his current album and tour break a several different kinds of new ground. The Messenger, which arrived earlier this year, is his first solo album. He’s also come to appreciate the art of live performance and made peace with the sounds and style he created as part of the much-loved Smiths.

The man behind The Messenger isn't done delivering gems from it, live or on record.

Tuesday morning Johnny Marr, who returned in a big way this past spring with his first proper solo album, unveiled both a new song, "The It-Switch," and a fall stateside tour itinerary that launches from Orange County on Oct. 31 at House of Blues Anaheim.

From there, the mastermind behind the Smiths' influential sound, who has taken to reviving that band's classics in concert – he played "How Soon Is Now?" and "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before," among others, during his Coachella sets in April – will venture north to headline San Francisco's famous Fillmore on Nov. 1. He immediately returns for two more performances in Los Angeles, Nov. 2 at the Fonda Theatre and Nov. 3 at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Tickets – $25 for Anaheim, $27.50 for the Fonda – go on sale Friday, July 19, at 10 a.m., with the HFC show, $30-$35, becoming available two hours after that.

Moz: 'Shoplifters of the world unite and take over!' Photo: Armando Brown, for the Register. Click for more.

It's a small wonder Friday night's big Morrissey concert happened at all, let alone came off so robustly.

First there was an understandable delay, when just before Halloween the iconic Englishman postponed the remainder of his fall tour, including a would-be Staples Center debut right after Thanksgiving, to instead be with his mother, ailing and hospitalized. That pushed the L.A. date back to March 1 and forced a change in opening act, from one crucial influence on the poet laureate of hopelessness and misery, Iggy & the Stooges, to another, Patti Smith and her veteran band.

But the prospect of Moz fulfilling that promise looked shaky again in January when he was laid low himself over a bleeding ulcer, forcing several rescheduled dates to be scrubbed. Would this Staples show really occur? And might he abruptly cancel over circumstances?

The year is winding down, and as usual the number of significant new releases each week is dwindling. Not many obvious standouts this time beyond Anthony Hamilton's excellent fifth disc, Back to Love, already winning raves from EW to NPR.

Beyond that, the list is filled with live albums (from singer-songwriters Josh Ritter and Charlotte Gainsbourg, among others) and scores/soundtracks (including those for Twilight and Sherlock Holmes sequels). Queen has issued a couple of high-priced but pretty nifty-looking box sets. Industrial-metal mavens Rammstein, due in Anaheim in May, get the retrospective treatment. Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa get high. And the original Naughty by Nature is back in action for the first time since Nineteen Naughty Nine.

November 29th, 2011, 1:10 pm by GEORGE A. PAUL, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Morrissey concluded his sold-out swing through several SoCal venues (including stops before and after Thanksgiving in L.A. at the Music Box and the Shrine Auditorium, respectively) with a strong show Monday night at the Fox Theater.

Whenever the revered English vocalist returns to the area, tickets are gone instantly and his large Latin fan base turns up in droves. That was definitely true in Pomona, where the allotment vanished in 20 minutes and Hispanics comprise 70 percent of the population. Spanish salutations were made from the stage and one was reciprocated by a female follower; after Moz handed the microphone around and people surprisingly shied away from commenting (he called them cowards), the gal expressed her love on behalf of the city.

This year, two new career retrospectives arrived in stores – the import Very Best of Morrissey concentrates on solo material and music videos, while Rhino Records' The Smiths Complete box set contains all the albums from that seminal '80s band in remastered form. (It also comes in a lavishly expanded, limited edition Super Deluxe version.) Yet the 70-minute concert was basically devoid of alt-rock radio hits featured on both releases.

Instead, Morrissey favored deep album cuts and new tunes from a studio album expected sometime in 2012. The setlists have essentially remained the same throughout the North American jaunt; Pomona's had a slightly different order than L.A. and switched out three songs.

As on previous tours, concert-goers were treated to an assortment of grainy European TV clips from the '70s, including footage of Shocking Blue, Sparks and New York Dolls, all before Moz took the stage. He was clad in a tight sparkly green shirt and jeans, while the five-piece band wore matching green UCLA shirts – possibly a sarcastic nod to the Shrine's horrendous traffic woes attributed to the college's nearby football game.

Morrissey quipped "stuff me, stuff me, stuff me" to the delight of a packed Music Box crowd Wednesday night. Given the cancellation of his scheduled appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the iconic former Smiths frontman added a last-minute intimate gig at the former Fonda Theatre, ironically a block away from from fellow dour countryman Robert Smith and the Cure, who were wrapping up their three-night stint at the Pantages Theatre.

With his backing band dressed in "F*** Fur" T-shirts, Moz kicked things off by immediately dipping into the Smiths' catalog with "I Want the One I Can't Have." Punctuated by signature tongue-rolled vocal stabs, he appeared in good spirits, soaking up the adulation of extremely faithful L.A.-and-elsewhere fans who had lined up for hours prior to the show.

As he stood center-stage with a microphone stand, "You Have Killed Me" poured over the audience, the sound mix at the Music Box thankfully first-rate this night, Morrissey's vocals floating rightfully a notch above the rest of the sound. Longtime guitarist Boz Boorer switched to an acoustic guitar for the breezy jangle of "When I Last Spoke to Carol," in a version that bristled via an accompanying trumpet solo from Gustavo Manzur.

Using the side of his hip as a target area for his tambourine, "You're the One for Me, Fatty" earned Morrissey more cheers as fans at the front of the stage suddenly surged with energy upon hearing the first strains of that fan favorite. The plinking keys of "Ouija Board, Ouija Board" perfectly trailed off into a ripping guitar solo by Jessie Tobias, the song ending with drummer Matt Walker thrashing the giant gong behind him.

"Maladjusted" morphed into a dark heavy rocker with shards of guitar feedback summoning up the appropriate background for Morrissey's lyrics. Bassist Solomon Walker came to the front of the stage hammering out a bass line that would morph into "One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell." Often playing songs live before they are released, Morrissey proved he still has plenty of gas (and lyrics) in the tank with the piano-driven "Action Is My Middle Name."

“Soundgarden exists,” Chris Cornell states simply. “The reunion word, to me, doesn't even need to be used anymore.” Yes, but this resurrection is still such a new and once-unthinkable concept that many fans may still be getting used to the idea. For a long time in interviews, especially during the rise of the Rage-heavy supergroup Audioslave in the early '00s, Cornell, who turns 47 this week, was adamant that a regrouping would never happen.

Soundgarden, the Seattle band behind grunge staples like “Black Hole Sun,” “Outshined” and “Fell on Black Days” had a remarkably unblemished run of roughly a dozen years and five influential albums, peaking with Badmotorfinger (1991) and Superunknown (1994). Few bands are so perfectly encapsulated; historically, those that are -- the Clash, Talking Heads, the Smiths, let's not forget the Beatles -- have achieved an even more storied mythology partly because they haven't gotten back together.

So what changed his mind?

“Once we were in the same room again,” he explained by phone a couple weeks ago, “there was that instant understanding that we're all the same people. Everyone has at least the same ability and capacity to be creative together, plus another decade of experience outside of this. I always knew that was the case, but you can really see it and feel it once you're in a room together. That's when you can notice whether the desire for more is there.”

Desire, it seems, was plentiful. Out of left field came the New Year's Day 2010 announcement that Soundgarden was back together. Four months later, the quartet -- including guitarist Kim Thayil, bassist Ben Shepherd and drummer Matt Cameron -- played their first show in 15 years, at their native Showbox. Four months after that, the band headlined Lollapalooza in Chicago.